Improvement in Durability and Performance of Nickel Cermet Anode with SrZr0.95Y0.05O3-alpha in Dry Methane Fuel

The feasibility of a Ni/YSZ (yttria-stabilized zirconia) anode infiltrated with a perovskite-type proton conductor, SrZr0.95Y0.05O3-alpha (SZY), was investigated for use in solid oxide fuel cells. The electrochemical characteristics of the Ni/YSZ-SZY anode and the Ni/YSZ anode were examined for humidified hydrogen fuel and for dry methane fuel. The durability of these anodes against carbon deposition was also studied using accelerated degradation tests. The significant result is that, although the SZY has a much lower oxide ion conductivity than YSZ at high temperature, the addition of SZY to the Ni/YSZ anode improved the operational stability of the Ni/YSZ anode in dry methane with reducing the overpotential of the anode.